Stuck Moonroof

Well I know its been written about with prior issues, but this one has me stumped. So I've just starting driving the car again and doing some rework and cleanup, anyway so I decided to open the roof up to do a bit of cleanup and get some silicone on tracks and gaskets nothing crazy, but once back it just stayed there and now does nothing.

So far checked the fuse that is inside the cab that I saw someone else post staying it was the one marked room, but that really does not make sense to me as I believe that one runs the dome light..I think. Regardless its stuck and I'm stuck, I disconnected the battery to see if that kind of reset would fix anything, but of course no such luck.

To me dead feels more like a fuse that I don't know about or maybe its the relay, I believe they put a relay up there next to the motor from the info I have, but wanted to post and see if someone has a suggestion and if not then someone else can one day find how this ends up going.

Thanks for Listening...Old guy back on Board.

 

Do you have a multi meter? Check for power and ground at the motor. If you're missing power then check for another fuse. If you can try manually applying power to the motor with a power probe. Just be sure to keep your hands clear of the assembly in case it moves.

 

If you have a multimeter you can also check all of the fuses for continuity without pulling them

 

Thanks guys, yeah today I'm going to go back and check the test points, last night I tested for power and know there's power to the switch so I think that rules out the power being the issue. I'm hoping its the switch in the overhead, I've had to replace a number of switches on this car in the past, if not then I believe it will have to be the relay, which of course is attached to the motor. Not having a way to manually close it is limiting the options.

 

Ok after a cup to start the day, back at it. I knew I had a shop manual on a computer just had to find it.

Anyway test points all say its the switch, I'm still going to break down the switch to see why it failed, I'm curious. Anyway logic prevails.

New switch ordered then we shall see if that is all that went wrong. Will update on the final findings.

 

You could jump the switch just to close the sunroof if you have it torn apart

 

You are correct sir.

So this would also tell us that there is no fault in the motor or the relay which is part of the motor assembly and in my case this proved what the test showed and that is that the switch failed and that was the only problem.

The service manual provides everything you need and with that information I was able to resolve the issue.

It is odd that the switch failed, but out of the 14 years I've owned the car I have seen many of the switches fail, in my case the car has seen a lot of garage time, I've parked it more than a year at a time and each time I've come back to it I've had various switches that failed, maybe the humidity is something that seems to effect these things.

I pulled apart the switch to satisfy my curiosity and I didn't find any fault in the contacts, these types of switches are just a simple circuit board with contacts, my theory is that the board warps enough to create a break or a gap large enough for the contacts to stop completing the circuit therefore causing the fault.

Now just waiting on the part to come in, but I'm sure that will resolve the whole issue and now I can focus on more interesting install and upgrades.

Thanks.

 

Well the saga continues, got the new switches installed with the new overhead part from mazda and pushed the open button and smooth operation resulted, back to full open and then nothing. no click no nothing. stayed fully open and just sat there looking up at the garage in disbelief. thinking back maybe I should have taken the red pill. Super frustrated I might have to give this one to a dealer because this time it just makes no sense to me.

 

Check the voltage at the motor when you hit the switch

If you pull on the glass while pushing the switch will it start moving?

 

I'm thinking this is a double failure, the motor itself proved to be working via bypass to close it, but the fact that nothing happens now with a new switch, so I'm speculating that the control portion has also failed so then that leaves me with the decision to replace the assembly as everything gets replaced as a unit.

I'm thinking its not worth fixing, at least for me. I think I'll get it closed then just leave the switch disconnected.

 

well that's confirmed double fail! Yes the switches failed but while the motor is good the rest is not and so its a motor/assm replacement required to fix, the best price I've found is about 360 for the part plus shipping, dealer wanted 900 installed...I think we all know that number isn't going to fly. So I closed it and disconnected the switch so no one decides to try it out....I haven't looked at what it takes to take down the headliner, I tend to hate fooling with those kinds of things...but I'll decide later on if its worth doing.